In My Daughter's Eyes
by McDreamOn08
Summary: When Izzie's daughter Hannah is left orphaned by tragic circumstances, Izzie is left to care for her. Can she be a mother after all this time? And will Hannah forgive her for giving her up? R
1. One Phone Call

**This is yet another new fic; I really hope you enjoy it.**

**It's Izzie centric and set after season four...**

**ENJOY!!**

Izzie paced through the halls of Seattle Grace as quickly as her feet would carry her that day; she was extremely over tired as her shift reached twenty hours and anyone who came in her way right then would have been toast…

"Izzie!"  
"What?" she said furiously as she whipped around on her feet and faced George who looked stunned.

He frowned.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Well, I have been at this hell hole for let me see…" she checked her watch briefly. "Oh, twenty hours and my interns are morons!"

George took a couple of steps back as the words flung at him like bullets; he held his hands up in defence.

"Okay, I get it Iz…" he said. "But I came to find you because I thought I'd give you the heads up on the fact that Bailey is looking for you…"

Izzie groaned loudly and buried her head in her hands.

"Seriously?" she cried. "Oh come on, this is all I need right now…I swear she has a radar that circulates the hospital walls…or it must be the fact that she hides behind doors and waits for us to be down and out…"

George tried his best to clear his throat warningly and made indicative hand gestures to the person standing behind Izzie.

"I do not hide in doorways…I stand in them…and while you think that it is my intentions to torture you…it is my job!" came Bailey's voice.

Izzie whipped around.

"And also…I don't care that you are in a bad mood Stevens, Dr. Shepherd needs a resident on a neuro case that has just come into the pit…" she explained with a frustrated voice. "So get it together…"

"Okay…" Izzie said with a nod.

Her cell phone rang.

"Stevens!" Bailey said abruptly. "I'm sorry, is this social hour? Are there more important things than your job right now?"

Izzie groaned and ignored it.

Throughout the course of the next few hours when Izzie was following up the neuro case her phone rang around about six or seven times; however, when she went to return it, it came back as a blocked number.

Finishing up her shift, Izzie never felt more relieved; she was so tired and eyeing her watch she realised that she'd been at the hospital for almost thirty hours; actually it was twenty nine hours and thirty eight minutes…but hey, who was counting?

She met Meredith and Alex in the foyer as she exited the hospital and looked at them with a tired and exhausted look that really indicated how long she'd been working.

"Wow Iz…you know I don't mean to be rude or anything…" Alex started.

"Surprise, surprise…" Meredith commented.

"But…you give night of the living dead a whole new meaning…and really that doesn't even seem to cover it…" Alex said as he looked at the dark circles that were completely apparent against her creamy complexion.

"Shut up!" Izzie snapped back.

Meredith smiled sympathetically as they got to the car.

"How long have you been here Iz?" she asked.

Izzie yawned and shook her head to brush away the tiredness.

"Oh…about twenty nine hours…" she replied as she took a lazy glance at her wristwatch once more.

Meredith sighed heavily and looked at her very tired friend.

"Iz…" she said softly. "You should have said something to Bailey or the chief…I mean thirty hours is a long time to be on your feet…as a surgeon in particular…if you keep going like this, you're going to make mistakes or burn out or something…"

Izzie shrugged.

"I'm going home to sleep now Meredith…I'll be fine tomorrow…" she told her concerned friend. "And besides, Bailey wouldn't care, she's pretty hell bent on making my life miserable lately…"

When they pulled up to the house, Izzie mustered all her energy to climb out of the car and make the, what seemed long, trek to the front porch. As they reached it, Izzie stumbled slightly up the stairs.

"Whoa…" Meredith took a quick and reflexive grip on her friend's arms and glanced at her worriedly. "You need to go straight to bed…"

Izzie nodded with an exhausted gaze.

Wandering up the stairs sleepily, she thought back to the incessant phone calls she'd been receiving all day; almost in sync with her thoughts, however, her phone began to ring once more.

"Hello?"

"Dr. Stevens?" came an unfamiliar male voice.

"Yes,"

"Dr. Stevens, my name is Constable Mark Jefferson, I'm calling on behalf of the Columbia Police Department from Columbia Presbyterian Hospital…"

Izzie frowned.

"Um…can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm calling about Hannah Stone…"

Izzie froze and went silent for a moment on the other end of the line; her thoughts colliding with her mouth and for a moment she was inaudible.

"Dr. Stevens, I understand that you are in fact Hannah's birth mother and gave her up for adoption twelve years ago?"

"Y-yes…"

"Dr. Stevens, Hannah's adoptive parents were both killed in a car accident yesterday…" Jefferson said grimly.

Izzie gasped.

"As far as we are aware, Hannah does not have any immediate family, any carers in Columbia at this present time…there was no will, except for the adoption papers that were at the house…she is currently in the care of the state…"

"An orphanage?"

"Yes, we call them group homes now…unless…" Jefferson's once strong and manly voice trailed at the end of the statement and Izzie knew exactly what he was implying.

"Unless I take custody?" she cried.

"As Hannah's birth mother, Dr. Stevens, you do have every entitlement over any will or state law…and you are the closest family member…" Jefferson explained.

"But…I mean…I…I am a surgeon…" Izzie said.

"Dr. Stevens, I understand that, believe me, I have a high powered career just like yourself but I have to alert you to the fact that she will indeed go back into the foster care system…" he continued. "And at her age…well the trauma and…you know how the state works…"

Izzie felt a wave of tears streaming down her cheeks as she tried her best to make sense of this situation…

"Dr. Stevens?"

"I'm here…" Izzie said quickly as she brushed the tears away from her cheeks and tried her best to remain clam. "It's just…how would I get her?"

"Dr Stevens, if you take responsibility for Hannah, we have the means to transport her on the next flight out to Seattle…" Jefferson replied.

"When will that be?" Izzie asked.

"Tomorrow morning at nine thirty…"

"That soon?"

"We all agree that the best thing for Hannah right now is to transport her immediately…she shouldn't be left alone…" Jefferson said. "As there is not family, we are not sure if there will be a funeral, however, we will transport you both here next week if one is scheduled."

"Okay…" Izzie replied.

"Thank you Dr. Stevens, I really appreciate this…" Jefferson said. "I mean, I understand that this has come as a shock but…"

"She is my daughter…" Izzie said.

With that, she ended the conversation and hung up the phone; for a moment she stopped to pause about her decision…tomorrow was going to change the rest of her life.

**Well, I hope you enjoyed it!**

**REVIEW if you did!!**


	2. First Impressions

**I am glad that everyone is enjoying this; I am working on three fics at the moment and trying to finish up one!! So I will be able to devote some more attention to this and "Family Portrait". **

**Enjoy this chapter.**

Izzie stood nervously in Seattle Airport at precisely 9:20 a.m. that morning; she stared intently at the arrivals gate for the anticipation of seeing her daughter walk through those closed barge gates was becoming all too much. She took an unsteady and nervous look around momentarily at the people that filled the arrivals area of the airport; their eyes were all filled with love and hope; anticipation even.

But for Izzie; and perhaps a small minority of the crowds that were piling in, there was so much more than the array of emotions that she could almost taste around her. Through her veins flowed an oozing river of anxiety and for a brief moment, just a tiny split second, she wanted to run… but something stopped her. There was something in the sheer intensity of meeting her daughter for the first time that kept her feet grounded.

_Her daughter…_

Hannah was her very own daughter.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is a courtesy call to Gate 17 for all those waiting on the arrival of Flight 379 from Columbia; the flight has grounded and we will be disembarking momentarily," came a woman's voice over the loudspeakers that blasted sound across ever speaker in the airport.

Izzie drew in a nervous and sharp breath as she tried her best to swallow what seemed to be a rather large lump in her throat as she watched the doors to the gate open and a sea of people flood into the arrivals.

And in one split second; an instant of glimmering hope for the life changing experience that lied before her in the short time she was waiting at the airport, she saw Hannah. A tall and thin young girl that mirrored Izzie in so many ways it was bizarre, with shoulder length blonde, curly hair that sat loosely around her face.

Izzie looked at her hopefully and couldn't help but take in a breath of awe at the beauty of her daughter; for she had little memory of her daughter when she was a baby and to be quite honest, she didn't recall much of when she'd seen her through the plate glass windows of the peds unit at the hospital last year. Hannah was dressed in jeans and a red sweater; it suited her perfectly, the red wasn't dull and lifeless, it was bright and vivacious and complimented her white and navy Converse Chucks' sneakers.

And then she looked up at Izzie…

She knew…

They both knew right then…

"Hannah?"

"Yeah…"

"I'm Izzie…"

"Are you my mom?"

"Yes…"

"Okay…"

Izzie and Hannah stood awkwardly for a moment; shuffling on their feet nervously, both unknowingly mimicking each other; wondering what to do…what to say next…

"We should go and get your bags…" Izzie said quickly in a rather poor attempt to break the ice.

"Okay…" Hannah mumbled as she shifted her weight onto her other hip and looked at the ground.

They waited at the bag carousel for a while; neither person exchanging a word while they looked for Hannah's luggage. Hannah reached out and collected one small duffle bag.

"That's it," she said as she threw it over her shoulder and turned to face Izzie as her eyes asked what happened next.

"Are you hungry?" Izzie asked.

"I guess…"

"What's your favourite food?"

"Um…pancakes…"

"Really? I love pancakes!" Izzie attempted to show some enthusiasm and break a smile from the very nervous young lady in front of her.

"Cool…" was all Hannah could reply.

"Do you like ice-cream?" Izzie asked.

"Yeah…"

"What's your favourite flavour?"

"Mint Chocolate Chip,"

"Yum! What about strawberry? Because you know we seem to have a lot of that in our freezer at home…we never run out…"

"I'm allergic to strawberries…"

"Oh…oh, okay,"

That was awkward.

"So…pancakes hey?" Izzie fumbled around in her handbag for her car keys as they made their way to the parking lot.

Hannah nodded.

"We'll go home and get changed…how about that?" Izzie suggested. "And then I'll make you some pancakes…do you like to cook?"

"I never learned how to cook…" Hannah replied distantly.

"I'll teach you then!"

"Okay…" another despondent reply.

When they arrived at the house in Meredith's jeep, Izzie stopped and pulled the keys out of the ignition where she took a look out the corner of her eye at Hannah as the very nervous, and very scared little girl stared straight ahead from the passenger seat directing her gaze to the house.

"Are you okay Hannah?"

"Uh-huh…"

"Are you going to come inside?"

"Yep…"

Izzie reached out to touch her arm gently in the most motherly way that seemed so instinctive to her right then.

"I know that this is all new to you…" she said to Hannah. "But Hannah, I promise that I will try my best to make this as easy for you as possible…we will make it work…it might just take some time…"

Hannah nodded and reached for the door handle with a little more confidence than she had moments ago.

"Are we going to make pancakes?" she asked Izzie with a slight tone of hopefulness in her voice.

Izzie nodded.

"Yep!"

Hannah climbed out of the car slowly; putting her feet down on the concrete driveway and staring straight ahead at the house. She put her hands in her pockets and slowly swayed from side to side as she looked at Izzie.

They made their way to the front door as Izzie turned the lock and opened the door. Hannah slowly took a step inside and drew in a quick breath that indicated how unfamiliar her surrounds were at this time.

"Hannah, just hand your coat up here next to mine…" Izzie told her softly with a slight smile. "We hang them near the door because Seattle weather can be so unpredictable…you can walk in without a coat and look out the window five minutes later and be greeted with rain!"

"I like rain…" Hannah answered.

"Me too," Izzie said to her. "Now, I want to take you upstairs and show you where you'll be sleeping for the moment…because all of this was so sudden, I didn't have time to fix you your own room…"

They walked upstairs and Izzie opened the door to her bedroom, which was usually big enough for her. But now that she'd fussed slightly and set up a fold out bed and some linen for Hannah, it looked rather small and cluttered, much to her dismay.

"So, I guess you'll sleep in my room until I can fix the spare bedroom for you, which shouldn't take long once Meredith and George clear out their things…we'll paint it and get you a new bed and…" Izzie rambled.

"It's okay like this for now…" Hannah said quietly.

"Now…" Izzie thought it was best to change the subject. "How about those pancakes?"

Hannah's face lit up for that split second.

"Okay!"

In the kitchen, Hannah walked around touching the surfaces that surrounded her and letting her fingertips graze over the unfamiliar objects in the room. She then moved over to the counter and perched herself onto a bar stool where she watched Izzie measure out the ingredients for the pancakes.

"Can you please crack me two eggs into that mixing bowl sweetie?" Izzie asked her.

Hannah nodded and proceeded to crack the eggs; as one cracked however, it spilled slightly onto the bench.

"Oh…" she said quickly.

"It's okay!" Izzie assured her. "It just takes practice…" she cracked the second egg into the bowl. "Now empty the flour into that bowl…"

Hannah picked up the measuring cup and dumped the flour over the freshly cracked eggs as residue filled the air in a white gush.

After the ingredients were all emptied into the glass mixing bowl in one heap, Izzie pushed it across the table to Hannah with a smile and handed her a rather large wooden spoon. Hannah stared at it, slightly confused.

"You can mix it in…" Izzie told her in all attempts to be motherly and gain a smile from the beautiful face that stared back at her. "I'll heat up the frying pan…"

Hannah nodded and circulated the spoon around the bowl in one heavy and fast mix as she let flour spill over the edge and hit the bench top with a dusting. Izzie chuckled at this and moved to the other side of the bench to stand right next to Hannah, close enough so that she could watch her.

"Slow down…slow down, slow down honey…" Izzie said with a slight giggle that made Hannah smile. "You need to start from the outside and work your way into the middle of the mixture, otherwise it will look like a snow storm on the bench top…" she put a light grip around Hannah's small and delicate hands that were so much like Izzie's and helped her stir the mixture.

Hannah turned around and smiled at her.

"Just like that…" Izzie said softly as she smiled back at her daughter. "The perfect combination…"

And in that moment, for that one little instant, the mother and daughter in the kitchen were in fact the perfect combination…

**I hope you liked it!**

**I love reviews, so hit the pretty little purple button!!**

**Amy.**


	3. A Few Questions

**Hi All,  
It's a very short update, but nevertheless a bit of a foundation for the growing mother/daugher relationship. This is going to be a bit of a healing process that will come with drama and tears; but I will make the outcome really positive.  
Please let me know what you think, I appreciate the reviews!!**

Izzie and Hannah were sitting at the dining table eating their pancakes in a strange and eerie silence; the typical, awkward family silence that usually comes on particular holidays when Aunt Jackie has had too many wines and embarrasses cousin Frank with her "you wore diapers til you were five" speech; or perhaps that cutting the silence with a double blade fillet knife type of quiet. Nevertheless Izzie wasn't about to be subject to that type of feeling…

"So…" she said with a mouthful of food. "I want to know everything about you…"

"What's there to know?" Hannah asked.

"A lot…" Izzie replied as she set her knife and fork down on the table and picked up her coffee.

"What do you want to know?"

"Where did you go to school?"

"Columbia Prep…"

"Did you have any pets?"

"A dog…"

"What happened…?"

"She died…"

"Oh…do you like school?"

"It's okay…"

"What's you're favourite subject?"

"English…"

"Cool…do you like Science?"

"It's okay…" Hannah sighed. "I'm not so good at it…"

"Did you like Columbia?"

"Yep…all my friends were there…"

"You'll make new friends in Seattle," Izzie assured her.

Hannah poked at the food on her plate.

"What about school?" she asked.

Izzie gave her a questioning look.

"What about it?"

"Where will I go to school?" Hannah repeated.

"Oh…" Izzie almost choked on her food. "Well, Seattle East Middle School I guess…"

"Where's that?"

"About two blocks from the hospital…it will be easy for you to come there after school and I can take you home…" Izzie tried her best to explain the workings of her world to Hannah, but it seemed to fall upon deaf ears.

"Okay…" she sighed.

A set of keys jingling in the door broke the awkward conversation and two voices filled the once echoing walls of the house.

"George…I am _not_ that bad…"

"Meredith…you nearly hit an old lady!" George cried.

"Was it my fault that she stopped smack bang in the middle of the road so that she could fix the broken foot of her walking frame?" Meredith exclaimed.

Their feet drew near and Izzie smiled at Hannah.

"That's Meredith and George…" she whispered.

"Okay…" Hannah replied.

"And besides…you're a doctor, not the road police so get off my back…" Meredith's whines ended abruptly when she came face to face with a miniature Izzie sitting at the dining table. "Whoa…"

"I am simply being safe…whoa…" George's feet came to a screeching halt when he, too, saw Hannah staring at him.

"Meredith…George…" Izzie smiled. "This is Hannah, my daughter…"

Both Meredith and George knew that Hannah was coming to live with them, but the stark resemblance between the two blondes was incredibly startling; even more so, it was freakish…

"Hi…" Hannah said softly.

Meredith jumped out of her silence.

"Hi Hannah, I'm Meredith…" she smiled.

"Hey, I'm George," George said warmly. He looked over at the pancake stack and groaned. "Why didn't you make any with banana?"

Izzie laughed and Hannah managed a smile.

"Because you're the only one who eats them…why are you both at home so early?" Izzie asked.

Meredith eyed George.

"We uh…wanted to um…." She stammered.

"We wanted to meet Hannah!" George blurted out.

"I was going to say find some clean scrubs…but whatever…" Meredith jabbed George in the ribs and chuckled slightly. "But yeah…what he said…"

"So Hannah…have you been cooking with your mom…I mean…oh crap…um Izzie…?" George stumbled on his words.

"Yeah…"

Another quiet response from Hannah triggered a saddened look from Izzie straight at Meredith as they both knew that Hannah wasn't adjusting as easily as anticipated.

But it wasn't supposed to be easy.

Izzie did promise she'd try though…

And she was going to try…

Really hard…

She was going to try to make it easy on her daughter.

--

That night, Izzie and Hannah were watching television quietly when Hannah yawned and rested her head on the armrest of the sofa.

"Bed time?" Izzie asked.

"Yeah…" Hannah yawned again.

Izzie nodded and stood up, offering her own hand to pull her up from the lounge; Hannah took it willingly and followed her to the bedroom.

"Hannah…if that bed gets too uncomfortable for you, just wake me and I will switch with you okay…" Izzie told her.

Hannah nodded and climbed under the covers where she stared at the ceiling for a while as Izzie switched out the light and the remaining lamination came from the moonlight peeking through the curtains.

"Izzie…" Hannah said quietly.

"Yeah honey?" Izzie answered.

"Do I have to call you _mom_?" she asked.

"Of course not…" Izzie told her.

"Okay…"

"It will get easier though…"

"Promise?"

"I do promise,"

"Can we hang out again tomorrow?"

"Of course…"

"Okay…"

"Goodnight Hannah…" Izzie whispered.

"Goodnight…" Hannah answered.

Whispers in the silence that was slowly thinning as today, they learned some important lessons.

**REVIEW please!!**


	4. Hanging Out

**Sorry for the delay in the update! I hope you all enjoy it!**

The next morning the sun beamed through Izzie's curtains, awakening her to a sound from downstairs; clanging and banging that seemed to indicate the fact that it came from the kitchen. But it was strange, because it was usually a sound that _only_ came from when she, herself, was in the kitchen making breakfast.

She rolled over slowly and heavily, having little sleep from last night, it was all she could do to pull herself up. Gazing over at the portable cot, she noticed that it was empty; wondering where Hannah could be, she climbed out of bed.

As she let her feet carry her sleepily through her bedroom, she picked up a robe and wrapped herself in it. As she entered the hallway, she passed Derek as he exited Meredith's room, clearly awoken from the noise.

"Good morning," Izzie said.

"Where's that noise coming from?" Derek asked curiously.

"The kitchen…I think…" Izzie answered as they began walking down the stairs on their way to the kitchen. "But…I swear…if George has started breakfast with his _A-la-George_ bacon and eggs…I won't hesitate in taking the eggs and frying them on his face…"

Izzie's voice trailed off as she saw the culprit.

"Hannah…"

"Hi," Hannah replied with a smile.

Izzie looked at Derek with a chuckling smile and back at the stove stop which was cooking what appeared to be pancakes.

"Um…Izzie…" Hannah said hesitantly. "I think I may need just a little bit of help…" her eyes were hopeful and full of life.

Derek tried his best not to laugh.

"How about I help as well and put on a pot of coffee…" he offered kindly as he eyed Izzie with a giggle in his blue eyes.

"Okay," Hannah answered.

Izzie walked over to the hot plate and pulled off her robe, putting it to the side, she picked up an apron and put it over her head as it fell firm around her curves that hid under her lolly pink pyjamas.

"Hmmm…what have we here…" she said to herself.

"Pancakes…I tried to make blueberry ones, but the blueberries kind of stuck to the hot plate a bit…" Hannah explained with a frown as she poked at the freshly stuck pancake that was beginning to burn on the stove top.

"I see…" Izzie said. She pulled the frying pan off the stove top and fought at the sticking batter with a spatula as she shoved with all her might. "You see…" she said as she threw the messed up pancake in the bin.

Hannah watched on with a smile.

"…The trick is to mix the blueberries into the batter, that way the consistency is just right…" Izzie told her as she emptied the container of blueberries into the mixing bowl. "Mix those in…" she told Hannah as she scrubbed the plate. "Thanks honey…"

Hannah mixed in the blueberries and watched her _somewhat_ mother make perfect blueberry pancakes batter.

"And when you pour the mixture on the hot plate, don't make them so big, because then you'll have the trouble getting it off just like mom is right now."

It was funny because nor Izzie or Hannah reacted to that title in the statement that had just escaped Izzie's mouth, but Derek did.

He coughed loudly.

Izzie looked at him and frowned.

"Coffee ready?" she asked.

Derek nodded.

"Hannah, do you want a juice?" he asked.

"Okay," Hannah answered.

Awakening to the commotion in the kitchen, Meredith and George wandered sleepily into the room wondering where all the noise was coming from.

"What is going on in here?" Meredith asked with a chuckle.

Derek smiled at her.

"Hannah, is making blueberry pancakes…" he said as he kissed her cheek softly. "Good morning,"

"Good morning," Meredith answered. She looked at Hannah and smiled kindly at the gesture. "Wow, they smell great Hannah," she commented. "How did you know they were my favourite?"

Hannah smiled widely.

"Anything I can do?" George asked. "I make a pretty mean _A-la-George_ bacon and eggs…"

"You can sit there and look pretty George," Izzie said quickly.

"Or…I can sit here and look pretty," George laughed. He sat down and looked at Hannah and Izzie; the resemblance was almost uncanny and he couldn't believe that this beautiful young lady was Izzie's daughter.

"So, Hannah…" Meredith said, in an attempt to break the awkward silence that filled the kitchen.

Hannah looked over at Meredith.

"Yeah?"

"What grade are you in at school?" Meredith asked.

"Seventh…" Hannah replied.

"Oh, okay," Meredith said. She looked at Izzie. "Maybe, you should go and look at some schools or something today?"

Izzie nodded.

"Yeah, I had that planned today…I called Seattle Prep yesterday and they were quite happy to have Hannah and I come in for an interview,"

"A prep school?" Hannah repeated.

"Well, you did go to a private school when you were in Columbia, and I really don't want you going to the public schools here…it just well…yeah," Izzie explained.

"But well…I don't mind, I mean…if it is going to cost too much…" Hannah said nervously.

Izzie frowned.

"Sweetie, I don't want you to worry about that right now…" she said as she put her arm around Hannah. "I do, however, want you to focus on flipping those pancakes!"

Hannah smiled at Izzie and followed the instruction.

--

Later that day Izzie and Hannah were sitting out the front of Seattle Preparatory School both equally as nervous to go through the oak doors that were directly behind them. Hannah had sat herself down on the steps outside and was twiddling her thumbs nervously.

"Nervous?" Izzie asked.

"Yep…"

"Don't worry…"

"What if they don't like me?"

"What's there not to like?"

"A lot…"

"No, nothing…"

"You have to say that…"

"Why?"

"Because you're my mom…"

"One, I don't have to say it…" Izzie sighed. "And two, I do say it because you are my beautiful, vivacious and funny daughter…"

Hannah nodded and stood up.

"Hey Izzie…"

"Yes sweetheart?"

"Can we just get this over with…?"

Izzie smiled and stood up to take her daughter's hand.

"Okay, let's go,"

And through the double door entrance two beautiful blondes held their head high and entered the school with all hope for one another.

--

"Well Hannah, I have reviewed your transcripts from Columbia Prep, and I must say, I am really impressed with your English scores…" Principal Jefferies said to both Izzie and Hannah.

Izzie smiled hopefully.

"I would love for you to attend Seattle Preparatory," he finished. "I will also encourage you to consider my offer in the Gifted and Talented English class,"

Hannah smiled.

"I suppose that's okay," she replied.

"Great," Principal Jefferies answered.

Izzie put her hand on Hannah's and beamed excitedly at the fact her daughter was a gifted English student.

"So, here are the enrolment papers and we will expect you here in my office first thing, Monday morning,"

Izzie and Hannah stood up.

"Thank you so much," Izzie extended her hand to Principal Jefferies and shook it gently. "We will see you Monday morning,"

Hannah and Izzie stepped out into the empty school corridor and stopped for a moment, eyeing each other out of the corner of their eyes. Smiles crept across both faces and they looked at each other, equally happy.

"Way to go!" Izzie said to Hannah. "Oh, honey this school is going to be great for you!"

Hannah watched two girls around about her age, walk by and smile at her.

"Yeah, I think I am really going to love it here," she concluded as Izzie wrapped one arm around her and they walked out of the building.

"So, what do you say about ice cream?" Izzie asked.

"I'd say…show me the money!" Hannah giggled.

Izzie threw her head back and laughed hysterically; at twelve years old she had the wit of a full fledged adult and for a moment, Izzie indulged in the humour of her daughter.

--

Izzie flung open the door as she and Hannah entered with grocery bags and shopping bags in hand. Izzie threw down the shopping on the kitchen bench and groaned as she covered her stomach.

"Okay, seriously, no more ice cream eating competitions…I am not sure my stomach will take it…" she said. "George and Meredith will be making surgical house calls…"

Hannah nodded in agreement as she sat down on the bar stool and rested her chin in the palm of her hand; watching Izzie closely, deep down, trying her best to learn more things about her mother. It wasn't the fact that she was scared to ask, she just didn't know when the right time would be to ask her.

"Um…Izzie…"

Izzie looked up from packing away the meat into the fridge.

"Yes sweetie?"

"I want to ask you…I mean…I just…"

"Hannah, what is it honey?"

"How come…I mean…why…"

"Why did I give you up?"

"Yeah…"

And at that moment…Izzie didn't know what to say.

**I'll try my best to update ASAP, I look forward to writing this chapter!!**

**REVIEWS!!**


	5. The Story

**I'm sorry it took so long to update...I have been trying to juggle four fics at once...yeah, not such a good idea, and I'm afraid this one was shoved on the back burner. I really hope you enjoy this chapter because I have been desperate to write it.**

Izzie let her shaky hands set her cup of coffee down onto the granite bench top so that she could face her daughter. With her free hand, she pulled her reading glasses down onto the bridge of her nose.

"I just…well…" Izzie sighed.

"Can you just tell me?" Hannah pleaded.

Izzie wasn't entirely sure that there was a right or wrong answer to the question she knew burned deep inside Hannah's mind. She also didn't know if Hannah was even ready or old enough to hear it; more so, if she was even ready to answer the question in some way. But as those beautiful chocolate brown eyes stared intently at her, Izzie did realise, in fact, that it was time to talk to her daughter; it was now time to tell the truth.

"Okay…" Izzie sighed as she pushed forward a smaller cup of cocoa in front of Hannah, stirring in two sugars and adding some extra marshmallows.

Staring back at her mother, Hannah barely glanced down at the steam that came off the top of the cup as Izzie began to talk.

"Hannah…I have to tell you that there are some really scary things in this story…things that may upset you…but I _will_ tell you…if you want to hear it…" Izzie said.

Hannah nodded.

"I wanna know…" she said.

Izzie sighed.

"Okay…well, the story is that I was only fifteen years old when I found out that I was pregnant…I was in my freshman year at Washington West High School; a school that had a reputation for having the easiest girls on the East Coast…" Izzie said. "But a reputation didn't bother me, because I thought I was a bad ass… and because I thought that, I went to a party that I wasn't supposed to be at…"

Hannah's eyes widened.

"You snuck out?" she asked.

Izzie nodded.

"I did…" she said as she swallowed a protruding lump in her throat that almost felt strangulating to the words that continued to form. "And I drank _way_ too much…and the next thing I knew, I was trying to find my panties in that back seat of a beat up old Lincoln…"

"He is my dad?" Hannah asked.

Izzie nodded.

"What is his name?" Hannah questioned.

Izzie felt tears form in the brink of her eyelids as they burned her skin, trickling at a fast pace down her cheeks.

"I don't know honey…" she answered.

Hannah lowered her eyes to the granite and used her little and delicate hands to traced patterns on the bench top.

"What happened when your mom found out?" Hannah asked curiously; her attention now completely focused on the conversation.

Izzie sighed heavily.

"I knew a long time before my mother found out…throughout the course of the fortnight I'd suspected it…and well, when I told my mom…" Izzie's voice trailed off as she tried to find the best way to say it. "I came from a family where we didn't believe in abortion…"

Hannah nodded.

"But…when I looked around at my life and tried to make sense of what I was actually doing…I knew somewhere, deep down…I couldn't care for a child…not in the way that a child deserve to be cared for anyhow…" Izzie sighed.

Hannah's eyes filled with tears.

"Sweetheart…I couldn't have…you didn't have a father…" Izzie continued with sadness in her voice. "I looked around at where I was…living in a trailer park where a lot of bad stuff happened…"

"A trailer park?" Hannah's voice shook.

"Yeah…" Izzie sighed as the haunting memories of her childhood consumed her thoughts. "The kind of trailer park where drugs were being made in home labs only two doors up…and the fights…" Izzie said tearily. "Honey, when I first found out I was pregnant, my mom told the neighbours because she was so mortified…and soon enough…well, the whole park knew and I was like the weekly edition of the Washington West Trailer Park…"

Hannah nodded.

"One night…I was…uh…I was walking home to the park, because we could never afford a car and wherever I went was always close…" Izzie explained. "I'd been to dinner with my best friend Heather and I was eight months pregnant…with the due date dawning, I was beginning to regret the idea of adoption…and we were talking about taking the baby…_you_…to another state and getting jobs…" her voice shook with each word that escaped her mouth. "But, before I got home…I felt as though someone was following me…and before I had time to react…I felt two sets of hands grab me and shove me against an empty, beaten up trailer…"

Hannah gasped.

"Two drugged out, big and scary men bashed me into premature labour that night…" Izzie told her wide eyed daughter; instant regret filled her mind and she wondered if maybe she should have simply kept her mouth shut.

As Izzie slowly broke down on her haunting and confronting past that escaped her mouth in slow and bitterly nostalgic words, Hannah walked over to Izzie and pushed her mother's hands aside to perch herself on her knee.

"That day…I mean, after I had you…I was in the hospital room all alone because my mom was working a double shift at the diner…" Izzie said softly as she looked at Hannah with teary eyes. "I took one look at you and I knew…"

"Knew what?" Hannah asked.

"How much I loved you…"

Hannah stared back at her mom with equally teary eyes.

"But I also knew something else…I knew that the events of the night before were things that happened to women in trailer parks every night; seven year old girls were raped for looking the wrong way…" Izzie started to cry. "I couldn't bring up my daughter in a place that didn't respect women…and I had no where to go…but I knew that someone else…even if it wasn't me and even though I already did…someone else could love you…"

Hannah put her little hand on Izzie's cheek and let her mother's tears catch on her fingertips as she tried her best to be brave.

"I understand…" she whispered.

"Giving you up…" Izzie cupped her hands around her daughter's rounded and familiar face where she managed to stare into her eyes intently. "It was the hardest, most awful thing I ever had to do…but I had faith that if I did the right thing and gave you a better life…god would eventually bring you back to me… and give me a second chance…"

--

That night, Hannah wandered into the bedroom where she climbed into bed and rolled on her side to watch Izzie take off her earrings and set them down on the oak dresser next to her watch.

"Izzie…" she said.

"Yes sweetheart?"

"Did you always love me?"

"To the moon and back…"

"You never forgot me…?"

"You were _always_ in my heart…"

"Thank you for telling me the story…"

"Hannah…if you ever need me to tell you something, I will tell you anything you need to know…"

"Okay…"

"Time for bed…" Izzie leaned down to tuck the covers tightly around Hannah to ensure she was safe in bed. She ran her hand slowly down her forehead and made herself believe that she'd made the right decision in telling her the story. "Goodnight my beautiful girl…"

She leaned down to kiss her forehead, only to be astonished by the words that were only a dream come true for Izzie to hear.

"Goodnight…mom…"

**Aww... I loved that bright and shininess at the end...**

**Just so you know, it will be a Lexzie fic...eventually...the next chapter possibly!**

**Reviews adored.**

**Amy.**


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